Turkish jets attack Kurdish militia sites in Syria as ‘payback’ for Istanbul bombing

TURKEY has sent F-16 fighters to attack towns in northern Syria and Iraq in a military offensive in retribution for the terror bombing in Istanbul last week.

The Turkish defence ministry posted the message “Payback!” alongside a photograph of a jet shortly after the air strikes targeted Kurdish militias.

The operation risked raising tensions with the US, a Nato ally who relied heavily on Kurdish support to defeat Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and secure lawless parts of Syria. Washington has warned Ankara against campaigns in Iraq and Syria.

The explosion last Sunday in a busy pedestrian street in central Istanbul killed six people and injured more than 80. While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, Ankara blamed it on the PKK, a banned Kurdish group.

The Turkish defence ministry said 89 targets had been destroyed, including shelters, tunnels and ammunition depots. It cited Turkey’s right to selfdefence as the reason behind launching Operation Claw-sword.

Some of the targets were members of Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), what Ankara believes is the Syrian affiliate of the PKK.

While both Washington and Ankara have designated the PKK as a terrorist organisation, their views differ when it comes to the YPG militia, which made up a large part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the umbrella group of mainly Kurdish local allies that were key to the Us-led fight to defeat IS.

According to the SDF, 11 civilians were killed in the Turkish bombardment of north and east Syria, including one journalist, and a further six were injured. The strikes were also said to have killed 15 Syrian regime soldiers, though Damascus did not confirm this.

While the Turkish defence minister said that all steps were taken to minimise damage to civilian infrastructure and only “terrorists” and military sites were targeted, the SDF claimed that a hospital, grain silos and power station were taken out during the bombardment.

The PKK did not immediately release details of casualties or damage.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s new operation comes ahead of a general election in Turkey next June in which he will lean heavily on his nationalist support base.

Mazloum Abdi, general commander of the SDF, yesterday called on families to remain at home for their own safety.